The machine keeps running

The 2012 Royal Gold Medal will be awarded to Herman Hertzberger on 9 February. He talks to RIBA Head of Awards Tony Chapman about social architecture, recognition and keeping busy

TC:  What does winning prizes like the Royal Gold Medal mean to you?

HH:  It means much to me. I try just to keep normal but for me it’s a small miracle that my not really sexy architecture is recognised, that the idea that – you may call it social architecture – is recognised. It gives me hope. There is a very funny discussion on one of the social network sites where some people are saying they dislike the idea that I get this prize. They say, wow, this is absolute nonsense, this man is not like Herzog and de Meuron or Mies van der Rohe. But other people who like it say: ‘Yes, but at least he is a social architect and we might need that in architecture.’ So this recognition of the point I try to push forward is a fantastic thing. In that sense it changes my life, but it does not change my life in the sense that I feel another person now.

TC:  I think those who are sceptical should go to one of your Montessori schools.  I’ve been to three, and to see that calm and energy in the same space, at the same time, is remarkable.

HH:  Yes, but the discussion is then: is that part of architecture or not?

TC:   Of course it is.

HH:  Because architecture is considered to be something else – connected to beauty, order, that sort of thing. I’m at home in architectural history – I know my Palladio and Alberti and Brunelleschi and Bernini and learn from them all, but I think we must add something. They made spaces where people could come together with a feeling of belonging: that is the big thing these classical architects did. This is not lost in our time, but it’s understated.

TC: You are approaching 80. You told me how you restructured the practice and yet you are probably busier than ever – do you think you will ever retire from architecture?

HH: There is a book discussed everywhere now in Holland. It’s written by a brain specialist and says something like ‘I am my brain’. It’s very materialistic because it denies free will. But I don’t know. It’s really a question of how long your brain will help you to think. I’m completely dependent on how long that machine keeps running, but if I could influence that, I would never stop.

A fuller version of this interview will be on architecture.com/royalgoldmedal from mid February

IN BRIEF

Research recognised
Submissions are invited for the RIBA President’s Awards for Research, which reward and encourage outstanding research in architecture by postgraduate students, academics and practitioners. The awards raise the profile of architects, practitioners and academics engaged in outstanding research, and raise awareness of the need for research to foster innovation and strategic thinking. Go to architecture.com/awards

4x4 making places:
size matters
This year, 4x4 investigates and debates numbers as the hidden force behind placemaking. From escape distances to the size of economies, numbers must work.
Speakers include professors Wulf Daseking from Freiberg and Par Gustafsson from Swedish Landscape University and UK practitioners from Renzo Piano, Proctor and Matthews and Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects.
Held on Thursday 8, 15, 22 and 29 March, 18.00-20.30 at the Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University. Details at makingplaces.com or contact riba.yorkshire@riba.org

Looking Forward forums
RIBA South West has launched the Looking Forward open forums to encourage local engagement with RIBA regional councils in the South West, to stimulate grass roots debate and offer regular tours of interesting buildings. The first forums are at Rook Lane Arts, Frome on 29 February, and the CFA
Voysey-designed Winsford Trust building, Devon, on 7 March 2012. Details on 0844 800 2767.